Who discovered the Laetoli footprints?

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Side view illustration of Australopithecus afarensis, an early human ancestor, shown walking upright with a hairy body and ape-like facial features. A scale beside the figure marks 12 inches and 40 centimeters. — Australopithecus Artist's rendering of *Australopithecus afarensis*, which lived from 3.8 to 2.9 million years ago.

The Laetoli footprints were discovered by Mary Leakey and her team in 1978. These remarkable, humanlike tracks, preserved in volcanic sediments dated to approximately 3.56 million years ago, are attributed to Australopithecus afarensis and are considered of monumental importance to the study of human evolution.1